Health Research Authority website redevelopment project - Alpha and Beta

The HRA website is a key resource for the research community and other stakeholders through which we provide information, guidance, policies, consultations, calls for comment and other resources. It is the main first point of contact that researchers have with the HRA and our services.

The functions and duties of the HRA are set out in the Care Act. The organisation has responsibilities for the co-ordination and standardisation of practice relating to the regulation of health and social care research. This is to protect participants and potential participants in health or social care research and the general public by encouraging and facilitating research that is safe and ethical.

Our current website is dense and complex to navigate, holding around 400 pages and over 1,000 documents. The content on the website was also the subject of a judicial review in 2015, with findings pointing to the need for the HRA to provide more clarity around our statutory role and the nature of our content in terms of regulatory functions or best practice advice and guidance.

We would like to work with a supplier to support us by delivering both alpha and beta phases, to enable us to create a website that meets the needs of our users. We will also use this opportunity to develop a process of continuous improvement, to ensure the site remains up to date and responsive to emerging technologies and trends without the need for large and costly wholescale redevelopments in the future.

This larger redevelopment will give us the opportunity to fundamentally change the information architecture and design of the site, improving user journeys as a result.